Signing example
Employment contract e-signature
An employment contract e-signature should leave the new hire's mark on every page that sets a term, not just the last one. This nine page Operations Coordinator contract from Waverley Foods, from the documents examples, shows the employee initialling pages 2 to 8 and signing page 9 from a single drawing, verified by an emailed code, with the employer countersigning only after acceptance and before the Monday 5 October 2026 start.
The document itself is written out in full on its own page: read the wording there. This page is only about signing it.
Who signs what
- Nadia Kouri, the employee, signs first
- Initials on pages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 · Name, signature and stamped date under Signed by the Employee on page 9 · Verified by emailed one-time code
- Beatriz Aguilar, for Waverley Foods Pty Ltd, countersigns
- Signature block under Signed for Waverley Foods Pty Ltd on page 9: Name, Title, Date · Email link
The signing journey
Step 1
Eleven fields with order on
The employee gets an initials spot at the foot of each content page from 2 to 8, then a name, a signature and a date on the Signed by the Employee lines of page 9. The employer signatory gets one signature block over the Name, Position and Date lines beside it. Page 1 is a cover and carries no field. Sign in order is on, employee first.
Step 2
The employee verifies and draws once
Nadia enters her six digit emailed code, accepts the consent gate, and draws one signature. The header reads Signature 1 of 8 and walks her through the seven initials spots and the page 9 signature, all filled from the single drawing. Her name arrives prefilled from the recipient row.
Step 3
Dates stamp themselves
Her date of acceptance prints from the submission instant, and the same moment appears in the certificate and the hash chained event log, so the day the contract was accepted is a record rather than a memory.
Step 4
The employer countersigns an accepted contract
Beatriz's invitation is generated only after Nadia's signature lands. She types her position on the Title line, signs, her date stamps, and the listener certifies the file and emails the completed contract to both signers and the sender, with the certificate as a separate download.
What the signed contract and certificate show
The signed PDF shows initials near the foot of pages 2 to 8 and, on page 9, the employee's prefilled name, drawn signature and stamped date beside the employer's block with name, typed title and date. The certificate lists the employee verified by Email link + emailed one-time code and the employer by Email link, each with an IP address and consent time, over an event log running from Envelope created through her code challenge and verification to both Signed events.
Tracking the new hire's progress
The status page shows the employee's badge move from Waiting to Viewed to Signed, then the employer's do the same. For HR running several starters at once, the envelope list gives one row per contract with its status badge, and a contract sitting on Viewed for days is a prompt to call rather than wonder. Resend sends a fresh link to the same stored address and retires the old one; if the address itself was wrong, void the envelope and send a new one.
How to adapt this envelope
A probation confirmation or variation letter runs as a smaller envelope with the same order. The contract's execution paragraph says the Fair Work Information Statement and the Schedule 1 position description have been provided, so if they travel in the same envelope, merge them into the PDF before upload and they sit under the same document hash. The offer letter example shows the lighter cousin of this flow.
What makes this signing flow work
One drawing, eight spots
The employee never draws eight times. The portal fills all seven initials spots and the signature from one drawing and scrolls her spot to spot with the Signature n of 8 header, so a fully initialled nine page contract costs the signer about a minute more than a signature alone.
Order enforced, so the countersignature means something
The employer cannot sign first: the invitation does not exist until the employee has accepted. Every countersigned contract out of this flow was countersigned over a completed acceptance, by construction.
Initials put acceptance on the substance pages
The $86,000 salary on page 4, the leave table on page 5, the six month probation on page 6 and the post employment restraints on page 8 each sit under the employee's mark. A later claim of never having seen page 6 runs into her initials on page 6, hashed from the same signature image as her acceptance.
Questions people ask
Does the employee draw initials on every page?
No. One drawn signature fills every initials spot and the signature itself, with the portal scrolling through the spots in turn. On this nine page contract that is seven initials spots on pages 2 to 8 plus the page 9 signature, eight marks in all from the same single drawing, and the cover page carries none.
Can the employee read the whole contract on a phone?
Yes. All nine pages render in the portal, and below 560 pixels the document goes read only with any typed fields collected into a panel above it. The initials and signature still fill from one finger drawn signature, so a new hire can accept on the train without printing anything.
Can HR see where the new hire is up to?
Yes, without asking. The badges move from Waiting to Viewed to Signed per recipient, and the audit trail underneath timestamps each step, including when the code was sent and when identity was verified. The countersigner's progress shows the same way, so a stalled contract is visible days before the start date.
Can the contract be changed after sending?
No. A sent envelope is locked, and the editor redirects to the status page once sending starts. A wrong salary line means withdrawing the envelope, which voids the links and emails anyone still holding one that it was withdrawn, then sending the corrected contract as a new envelope.
Where do the signers' names come from?
From the recipient rows. The sender enters each person's name and email when adding them, and the name line in each block is prefilled from that row rather than typed at signing. The employer signatory types only her position. Her name then appears again in her certificate entry with her signing time and IP address.
Why sign before the 5 October start date?
Because the probation clock, the salary and the notice terms all run from the first day, and a contract accepted after work starts invites the argument that different terms applied in between. Sending the envelope a week or two ahead leaves time for the employee to take the independent advice the execution paragraph mentions before signing.
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Make one like thisOther signing examples
Contractor agreement e-signature
A contractor agreement e-signature puts both businesses on one certified file: the contractor accepts first behind a one-time code, and the builder countersigns once the terms are accepted. This page shows the seven page Bellbird Build Co carpentry package from the documents examples signed that way, and then a second run of the same envelope in which the contractor declines, so the decline path here is recorded, not imagined.
Offer letter e-signature
An offer letter e-signature works best as a two signer envelope: the candidate accepts first, the employer countersigns second, and the acceptance date records itself. This page shows the Data Analyst offer from the documents examples signed exactly that way, with the candidate choosing a typed signature instead of a drawn one.
Sign an NDA online
To sign an NDA online you upload the finished PDF, place fields for each party and send one link to each signer. This page shows exactly that, on the six page mutual NDA dated 2 October 2026 between Sable Robotics and Northwind Components from the documents examples: initials on page 2, where the definition of confidential information sits, a signature block for each company on page 6, and a six digit emailed code before either side can open it.
Want the steps in the builder? Read Send a PDF for e-signature, then Send a document for signature. For everything this generator can do, see the signing flow maker.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .